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lock of hair hanging in front of his forehead, he sym-
bolises opportunity. The juxtaposition ofKairoswith
Chronos (measured time - Χρόνος) illustrates a con-
cept of time that is intimately linked to human expe-
rience. As a musician, one can feel “Kairos” when
perfect harmony is achieved. These rare andmagical
moments are the ultimate goal of all artists.
The Kairos Quartet takes great care in the selection
and combination of pieces, sometimes curating even
their own concert series, as was the case with the
concert and conversation series Five Windows onto
the String Quartet Since 1950, which took place at
the Kulturbrauerei Berlin in 2001 and 2002 – the
Quartet presented composers such as Ferneyhough,
Lachenmann and Lucier. The Quartet has also de-
veloped close professional relationships with the
composers Haas (Austria), Estrada (Mexico), Netti
(Italy), Newski (Germany/Russia) and Lim (Aus-
tralia). The Kairos Quartet reaches out to music
students and the general public through workshops,
master classes and lectures on new music and per-
formance practice as part of festivals or at music
schools. These workshops, master classes and lec-
tures have so far taken place in Austria, Germany,
Mexico, Norway, Poland and Switzerland.
The Quartet has been invited to numerous inter-
national festivals, including Ultraschall and Mae-
rzMusik (both in Berlin), Eclat Stuttgart, Hudders-
field, Berliner Festwochen, Wien Modern, Salz-
burger Festspiele, Klangspuren/TransArt, Warsaw
Autumn, Ljubliana Festival, Festival d’Automne
and the Festival de Cervantino. Kairos Quartet has
been recorded live by most major German radio
stations and by the BBC, DRS, ORF and RAI. The
Quartet’s CDs have populated various best-of lists
and the German Record Critic’s Award (1/2005).
In 2001, Kairos was the first ensemble to become
fellows at theAcademy Schloss Solitude.
The many artistic partners of the Kairos Quartet
include baritone Dietrich Henschel, Mayumi Mi-
yata (sho), the sound poets Valeri Scherstjanoi and
Michael Lentz, actress Martina Gedeck, the Schlag-
quartett Köln and the Vokalsolisten of the SWR.
Programme
Toshio Hosokawa (b. 1955)
Landscape I
(1992)
Ioannis Xenakis (1922 – 2001)
ST
/ 4 (1962)
Giacinto Scelsi String Quartet No.3
(1963)
Interval
Evis Sammoutis (b.1979)
Rhymes
Georg Friedrich Haas (b.1953)
String Quartet No.
2
(1998)
A workshop with the Kairos String Quartet with
the participation of young Cypriot instrumentalists
and composers included a demonstration of ex-
tended instrumental techniques for strings as they
appear in innovative key repertoire works for string
quartet. The workshop was aimed at composers
and performers and was jointly presented with the
Goethe Institute Cyprus.
Towards and Beyond - Ascreening of Barrie
Gavin’s documentary about the British Com-
poser Jonathan Harvey
Born in 1939, composer Jonathan Harvey stud-
ied with Erwin Stein in Cambridge, after whose
death he studied composition and analysis with
Hans Keller, obtaining a PhD. At Cambridge, he
was preoccupied with mystical ideas while becom-
ing acquainted with procedures in medieval and
renaissance music that later influenced his own
compositions. During the 1960s Harvey composed
freely, responding to a wide variety of musical and
religious experiences in his settings of medieval
texts. Schoenberg, Berg, Messiaen and Britten
were also early influences, and Hans Keller helped
to broaden Harvey’s list of influences. In 1964 Har-
vey joined the Music Department of Southampton
University. It was at this time that the power of
Stockhausen’s music first had a profound effect
on Harvey, inspiring him to explore and develop
his own complex and personal musical language
– he later came into contact with Milton Babbit.
In the early 1980s, Harvey was invited by Boulez
to work at IRCAM, a position that has resulted in
many new commissions in recent years. Harvey’s
works are now being increasingly played all over
the world. The transcendental quality of his music
does not lose its force when he focuses on the more
intimate genre of chamber music.
British Director Barrie Gavin studied history at the
University of Cambridge from 1954 to 1957 and